Aussie Halloween Hits

by lkatulka on October 31st, 2007

As a kid growing up in Australia, I was always a little bit jealous of Americans celebrating Halloween. I thought how wonderful it must be to dress up in scary costumes and score loads of free lollies. I actually tried it once in primary school, but none of the neighbours I visited had any goodies to give me and I didn’t have the heart to toilet paper their houses because of it.

So this year I figured I’m going to celebrate anyway. Everyone else at b5media is doing it, so why can’t I? To get you in the mood, here’s five of the best Australian spooky songs.

I had to kick things off with a little AC/DC. It’d be unAustralian not to. “Highway to Hell” is one of their best, and scariest, with the late great Bon Scott up front.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of The Scare. Their brand of chaotic punk just does nothing for me. But with a name like The Scare, and a song called “Bats, Bats, Bats,” I had to include it anyway!

Here’s Australia’s current dancefloor darlings Sneaky Sound System with their spooky hit “UFO.” This is the only live performance I’ve included here, basically because I don’t think the studio recording can match this for energy. Considering this is about spotting UFOs while you’re alone and far from home, it’s a strangely happy tune!

It’s not Halloween without monsters, so here’s the Something for Kate variety. I’ve always thought Paul Dempsey seemed far too calm for a man hunted down by monsters, but this is a very cool song nonetheless.

It wouldn’t be a Halloween list without Australia’s own Prince of Darkness, Nick Cave. “Red Right Hand” may be the creepiest song ever written. I love it!